1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber connector, and particularly to an optical fiber connector having a spring member for applying a resilient force to press against and securely retain a fiber plug inserted into the optical fiber connector.
2. Description of Related Art
Present day telecommunication technology utilizes, to an increasing extent, optical fibers for signal transmission. The use of optical fibers, in turn, requires numerous collateral components especially adapted to handle the light or optical transmissions, among which are optical fiber connectors.
Optical fiber connectors for making connections between digital audio systems normally mate with a ferrule on a terminating end of the fiber. The ferrule is for alignment and support of the fiber made from glass or plastic. The ferrule is inserted into a receiving hole of a housing of the optical fiber connector. Examples of optical fiber connector that connects with a plastic fiber terminated in a ferrule include: i) the F07 Duplex Plastic Fiber System from AMP; ii) the SMI (small Muti-media Interface) Connector from Sony Corporation; and iii) the HFBR series of plastic fiber connectors from Hewlett Packard. To ensure performance of the optical connector, a door need to be provided to prevent dust and vapor in the air from entering the receiving hole of the housing.
For example, as shown in FIG. 8, Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-331859 discloses an optical fiber connector, which comprises a housing 1 holding an optical element 11, and a rotatable door 13 assembled to the housing 1. A fiber plug 2 and a fiber 21 are received in the fiber connector. The housing 1 defines a cavity 12 for receiving the fiber plug 2. However, the rotatable door 13 is not retained in the housing 1, so can be easily to be damaged. Furthermore, the optical fiber connector takes up more space when the fiber plug 2 is inserted in the cavity 12, since the rotatable door 13 is at outside of the housing 1.
It is thus desirable to provide an improved optical connector for overcoming the above problems.